


Trapped Inside Myself

by murphysarc



Category: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Greek and Roman Mythology, Original Work
Genre: Atlantis, Chaptered, Death, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Greek Mythology - Freeform, M/M, Multi, Mythology - Freeform, Original work - Freeform, Polyamory, Romance, Superpowers, Teen Fiction, Violence, War, egyptian mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-16 05:22:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1333588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murphysarc/pseuds/murphysarc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gods, Greek and Egyptian, are real. When they died, they created humans to live in a city left behind and stored their knowledge in other humans, Souls, so they would not be forgotten. Maya Havoc is a Soul. Alicia Lest is a descendant of the city's inhabitants. The two don't know the other race exists, but they'll need to cross paths to prevent the oncoming apocalypse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Guide To Mythology Used

**For my new story, "Trapped Inside Myself," I use quite a few references to the following gods. So, I suppose in order to read it with full potential, a guide like this is needed.**

**_Greeks Gods_ **

Zeus - leader of the gods, god of the air

Poseidon - Zeus' brother, god of water

Hades - Zeus' brother, god of the dead

Athena - Zeus' daughter, goddess of knowledge

**Artemis - Zeus' daughter, goddess of hunting**

**Apollo - Zeus' son (Artemis' brother), god of the sun and music**

**Hermes - Zeus' son, god of messengers and travelling**

**Aphrodite - Goddess of beauty**

**Ares - Zeus' son, god of war**

**Dionysus - Zeus' son, god of wine**

**Hecate - Goddess of magic**

**Hestia - Goddess of the hearth (fire)**

**Demeter - Goddess of farming**

**Hephaestus - Zeus' son, god of crafting**

**Wow. Zeus gets around, doesn't he?**

**_Egyptian gods_ **

Horus - God of the sky

Ra - god of the sun

Isis - goddess of magic

Geb - god of the earth

Shu - god of the air

**Thoth - god of knowledge**

**Hathor - goddess of happiness**

**Set - god of sandstorms (god of evil)**

**Anubis - god of the dead**

**Bast - goddess of cats**

**Khonsu - god of the moon**

**Osiris - god of the Underworld**

**Atlantis = a mythical underwater city**

**Mount Olympus = the home of the Greek Gods**

**The Underworld = Where you go after you die**


	2. In The Beginning

**"Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."**

**-Winston Churchill**

**Warnings for this entire work - Contains swearing, graphic depictions of violence, death, and anti-religious implications.**

**Note - in case of confusion, the gods "Cheele" (Greek god of the 'second sun' that became the moon) and "Hiros" (Egyptian god of trust and democracy) have been made up. They are not real mythological figures, and all myths and concepts surrounding them came strictly from my imagination.**

"Nobody believes."

They're dangerous words to say on Olympus, but Artemis knows they're true. She can feel the connection between the gods and the humans fading, and she knows she can do nothing about it. Her very power is fading before her and, try as she might, she can't fight the death that approaches her.

"We've failed," she continues, looking back over her shoulder at the other gods assembled. "We took a risk, dividing ourselves, and it failed."

"Perhaps not," Hermes tries to argue, but even he knows his efforts are futile. The end is coming. The Romans have warped the mythology with their own spin, and because the gods are powerless to change human thought, the faithful Greeks are no longer faithful.

It hurts to know they've failed, but they can't run from the truth.

"We rely on humans, and the humans rely on us!" Athena sighs. "Why can they not realize this? They need us just as much as we need them. If they let us go, society is doomed."

"We know," Artemis replies. "But that is inevitable. What we can do is try to prevent this from happening again."

"Just as it was done before," Zeus says, nodding. "You are correct. We must preserve our knowledge. Only then can humanity survive long enough."

"Call the Egyptians," Poseidon suggests. "They're fading, faster than we are. They will need this, too."

Zeus slammed his golden lightning bolt down on the marble floor. His weapon of power seems smaller, but nobody raises an eyebrow. All of the weapons of power are smaller.

The Egyptian gods slowly shuffle into the room, their postures showing they are exhausted. It is evident they are dying, with only hours left. "We understand what must be done," Horus says. "We were only hoping you would survive."

"We should not have divided," Athena speaks up. "It has caused the death of us, and our habits will carry on with our children."

"They shall," Zeus nods, "But we must pray that we are wrong."

"Do we all know what to do?" Hades suddenly says. "We cannot waste time."

"But wait," Thoth juts in. "We're capturing our essences and putting them into human bodies, correct?"

"Correct," Zeus replies. "Then we wait to see if they're ready."

"I understand that," the Egyptian knowledge god responds, "but what about the human element? If they succeed, they will need strong humans ready."

"We've thought of this," Hestia assures the god. "We've decided…to use the city."

The gods stare at each other for a while. This move is risky. It's terribly, terribly risky, but they know it's their only chance.

"Okay," Osiris finally says, breaking the tension. "But what of Cronus? And the other threats that we've previously faced?"

"Those threats are not an issue until Cronus is," Zeus says calmly. Truth be told, he hasn't thought much of Cronus, either. "And in order to rise, Cronus needs a host - a strong host. Someone with powers far beyond ours alone, and that person shall never walk the earth."

"I suppose," Osiris says, but he's skeptical, and he has a right to be.

"Are we ready?" Demeter asks the crowd.

"I will not do this," Hera suddenly cries, running from the room, Zeus giving her a cold stare as she disappears from the throne room.

There is a moment of silence as the assembled gods wait for any more to jump ship, but nobody else does.

"Are we ready?" Demeter tries again.

"We are," they reply in unison, and then with a blink, the gods are gone, scattering their essences into the humans and the city, hoping for better days to come.

"The city is doing well," Jace reports. He's one of the two representatives from the city, here on the ground to help the Souls build their strongholds. Jace is immortal, along with most from the city, and so is Regina, the other representative. Unless they are killed in battle, aging would not affect them.

When the gods disappeared, they chose the best humans alive, the ones that were unsure of whether the Romans were right or not, and thrust them into the city, their only duty to help the Souls. The Souls themselves were the embodiment of the fallen gods - each one had the knowledge and abilities of their patron god. There were Greek and Egyptians Souls, and so far, they were working together to Jace's satisfaction.

"Good to hear," the Zeus Soul replies. Jace hasn't bothered learning their names; he's here to lead them, not be friends with them. "We need the city functioning at maximum potential."

"Have you thought of a name yet?" the Khonsu Soul asks, leaning over from the small huddle she's in. Jace knows Regina is discussing building plans with them, and he really wishes that she'd make them pay more attention.

"No," he snaps. "Not that we've been told of, but I'm sure they're making progress."

"Maybe they'd tell you these things if you actually wanted to be helpful. They've named the city Atlantis," Regina mutters, not intending to be heard, but she's forgotten that the inhabitants of the city are powerful, as the gods made them. These powers include hearing extremely well.

"Why else, pray tell, would I be here if I didn't want to be helpful?" Jace asks quietly, stepping towards Regina. Regina, as calm as she was, just stepped slowly away from the crowd of Souls around her. Unlike Jace, she actually cared about them, and she knew Jace would probably hurt them if he got too angry.

"Because you have to," she replies. She's not scared of him. "You have to, or the city casts you out."

Jace bites his lip angrily, because he knows that the accusations are true. "So what? I'm still here. I'm helping the Souls build places for them to stay safely."

"And what have you done to 'help'?" Regina retorts. "Nothing, have you? You just watch and wait until we can go home. You haven't done a thing."

His vision starts to go red with anger and his hands are curling into small fists, shaking with rage. "I have," he protests, but it's futile, he knows this. "And what have you done?"

"I made the building plans," she responds dryly. "I coordinated the work. I worked myself. I've gotten to know the Souls better, while you don't care about them at all." The Souls in question were standing to the side, fearfully awaiting the end of the argument.

Jace doesn't say a word. He's trying to stay calm but that's proving difficult.

"The gods put us here for a reason," Regina continues. "They gave us powerful bodies, gave us an amazing city, and in return we help the Souls. The Souls who are destined to save the world. Do you not care about that?"

"Save the world from what?" he snaps. "From the stupid humans, who are only just figuring out how to write? The monsters, who are completely disorganized after their leader was killed? We haven't had a monster attack in centuries."

"That's true," she responds. "Because, while we've been here, the city's inhabitants have been keeping them down and controlling them. And it's not them we have to worry about, anyways. It's their leader."

"Cronus will never rise!" he finds himself yelling. "The gods would've made sure of that…?"

"Do you really know nothing?" she sighs. "We don't know where Cronus is, remember? Honestly, have you been paying attention to any of your lessons?"

They don't say anything while Jace silently fumes.

"Oh," she whispers quietly. "Right. You didn't have to attend lessons, because your powerful father is the leader of the city. Right. And you're just waiting patiently to take over. And, what? Kill him and become leader?"

The suggestion is quiet, barely audible, but it's there, and Jace hears it and understands. "Would you care to repeat that?" he whispers.

"No," she says. "I think you understand."

She turns away.

She goddamn turns away.

Jace snaps. Before he or anyone else even knows what's happening, he's racing towards her, drawing his silver dagger from its sheath. The Khonsu Soul gives a strangled yelp and Regina turns around at the last moment, enabling her to see Jace lunging, his face twisted with anger as the blade is pushed into her neck.

Regina dies, practically on impact.

Jace isn't quite sure what he's done, but he knows he's got to make up something, and fast. He casts one look at the quivering Souls and knows he can't stay with them. They're only teenagers. They can fend for themselves or die trying. It'll toughen them up a bit.

So, instead, he throws down the dagger and runs, runs faster than he ever could imagine. He's sprinting for days until he arrives at the ocean, and then he's swimming, swimming, swimming and then he's at the city.

He's nearly killed himself by the time he arrives, but when asked what happened, all he says is, "The Souls killed Regina."

That day, Atlantis cuts itself off from the Souls and the world of humans, vowing to never help them again.

Centuries, centuries later, only slightly before our time, Captain Grace stands next to Private Farrow in the Court of Star Chamber, a court that the Souls like to use as a torturing court. Yes, the name was inspired from Charles the First's time, in the 17th century, and the two leaders quite liked it.

It's well known at this point that the Souls are badly divided. There are the Greek Souls and the Egyptian Souls, and the two groups have a slight mistrust of the other. So it was decided to have two leaders - Captain Grace leads the Greeks, and Private Farrow leads the Egyptians. They still work together, but this seemed to lessen the distrust of the other group.

And, currently, the Court of Star Chamber is filled.

Legend lies before them, his hands bound and the Soul of Ares behind him. In front of them lies a large basin of water that Legend has repeatedly been dunked in, for no reason other than existing.

See, Legend is a "Broken-Soul."

It's a new concept, not seen before. It's also impossible. The Souls have a system set up by the gods, and that system is strict. Take the Soul of Horus, for example. At that time, it was Cora. It's Cora's job, once she's been trained to fight for herself, to go out in the real world and have a child with a human. Thus, the child would be the next Soul of Horus. As soon as the child is born, the abilities and knowledge are passed down the line. This process makes Cora forget everything she knew about Horus, and she becomes a regular human, whose only job is to protect her child until it is old enough to brought to train.

This cycle is supposed to continue until something happens. That's all the Souls know. They've got a job to do, but what that job is, nobody is sure.

See, neither Captain Grace nor Private Farrow know anything about Atlantis.

Maybe if they did, this would not have happened.

But now, the cycle has been broken, and it has only just become clear. Legend's mother was the Soul of Cheele, Greek god of the second sun. Yes, two sun's revolved around the earth at this time. This fact had been known for quite some time.

Except, the Soul of Hiros (Egyptian god of peace, harmony, trust and democracy) disappeared. Nobody knew where he had gone, and nobody could find his descendant.

Until they realized.

Legend is the son of two Souls.

Thus, he has eliminated a bloodline, and two gods live on inside him.

He's twice as powerful as any other Soul.

And the others were convinced he must be killed.

"You are too dangerous," Captain remarks casually, as if he's asking Legend about what he had for breakfast. "You must be destroyed."

"You are going to murder me," he spat in response. The boy is 18, almost old enough to leave the training camp and go into the real world, but he did not quite escape.

Or, so they think.

"What is the means of execution?" Captain asks his partner, Private Farrow.

"I am not convinced we should," the man replies testily, as if unsure where the words will lead him. "We would eliminate two bloodlines."

"But what of his children?" Captain argues. "They could be…disobedient."

"It does not feel right," Private said, shrugging. "But, if you deem it necessary…"

"I do," is the response. "He could destroy everything we have worked for."

"I suppose." Farrow is still not convinced, but he won't argue any further.

"Drowning is the means of execution," the Ares Soul reports. "Would you like me to proceed?"

The Captain gives a nod, expecting to see horror on the victim's face, but Legend is only smiling and smirking. "So long," he says, before the Ares Soul plunges him into the water. Evidently, Ares has no issues with murder.

"Stop!" comes the sudden cry from the side. The Artemis Soul is trying to lunge forwards, but the Osiris and Geb Souls are holding her back. Captain Grace believes that Minerva is the Soul's name, but he could be wrong. "Stop it! You're murdering him!"

"Be quiet, girl," Grace snaps, watching Legend thrash involuntarily with delight.

"What's going to happen to the second sun?" she exclaims, still trying to break free. "It's going to go out! And nobody will trust anymore! The world will be plunged into chaos!"

"Yes," Farrow says quietly. "Yes, it will."

And with that, Legend stills, and all hell breaks loose.

Suddenly the sky grows dimmer and claps of thunder break out as the Souls all rush outside to see the second of the two suns slowly dimming, dissolving, even. "No," Minerva whispers. "I will not let this happen."

And she doesn't.

Using all the energy she's got, which is quite a bit, considering what's inside her, she sends her power towards the fading sun. Beams of light surround her but the other Souls know it's too late, she can't save it…

She doesn't save the light.

Instead, she creates the moon.

And just as the light around her dies down and she falls to her knees, exhausted, she realizes every single human around the world will have forgotten the second sun ever existed. The dim light around them will be considered enough.

And in her heart, she knows exactly why she was able to create the moon.

It's because of what she's carrying.

It takes only a year for the Souls to divide. The Greeks go one way, and the Egyptians go another, their leaders splitting as well. The names are even changed - Greeks call themselves "Spirits" and Egyptians decide on "Sacreds." Everyone is convinced it's for the best.

Minerva had gotten permission to leave and go to the real world months ago, before it was ever noticeable. She finds herself a small living space and gives birth to the child inside of her without any fuss.

She cradles the small infant, named Ruby, who is probably the most powerful being on the earth at that time.

The child is a mixture of Cheele, Hiros, and Artemis.

She doesn't know what's coming, but she does know it won't be good.

Ruby is walking down a dark street, her husband, Mark, by her side. "We've got to get home to Maya," she keeps saying.

"Minerva's with her," Mark repeats. "She'll be fine."

"You know how powerful she is. She's two; she's already done things that we would never have imagined."

It just so happens that Mark is the Egyptian Soul of Isis.

And Ruby is a mixture of three Souls.

Yes, she knew she shouldn't have, but she did fall in love with an Egyptian Soul.

Even though it is now illegal for Greeks and Egyptians to even talk to each other, they met, and gave birth to Maya.

Who is a mixture of four Souls.

Everyone could be after the infant.

And they're right.

As soon as they find their way home, they're about to enter the apartment building when suddenly Mark gasps, his hand flying to his stomach. "R-Ruby?" he gasps, before collapsing to the ground, his eyes seeing nothing. Blood is seeping out from a stab wound in his higher back.

Even though tears are suddenly seeping out of Ruby's eyes, she whirls around, only to have her shoulder grabbed. A man stands before her, cloaked in black, a knife in his hand. "Who are you?" she whispers, fear capturing her.

He chuckles slightly before responding. "I am everything."

She shakes her head because she knows all too well. She's been taught these things - she knows who stands before her, even though it's impossible.

Sure enough, he lowers his cloak.

He's got one blue eye and one golden eye.

"Cronus," she whispers. "Don't you need a powerful host? More powerful than a human?" She's not sure why her mouth is even able to move, she's so fearful of the being standing before her.

"I will," he replies. "Once I am strong enough, a powerful host will let me stay on this world. And that host will be able to do nothing to stop me," he hisses. "But, only if I do…something first." Ruby realizes exactly what he means when the front door to her house creaks open.

"Mommy?" a small child's voice floats towards Ruby's ears.

"Maya, baby," she whispers, and suddenly the knife is being pressed to her throat. Why isn't she fighting back? Why does she feel so powerless? Mark's blood is pooling around her shoes as she continues, "Get back inside. Go to Grandma, baby."

"Mommy, why is Daddy asleep?"

"Get inside," she croaks. "Now, darling, please…"

"Too late," Cronus whispers, and then he makes a thin slice on her throat and Ruby's on the ground, gurgling, clutching at her bleeding throat as the life seeps out of her.

She stays alive to see Cronus clutching her daughter's wrist.

And then she dies, cries of defeat still trapped inside of her.

Maya's not too sure what's going on at this point. She's only two, after all. It's dark and she can't tell that her parents are dead. She just thinks they're sleeping. But she doesn't know this man and she's not too keen on him as he's clutching her wrist really tightly and it's starting to hurt.

"Hello, young Maya," the man says, tilting his head slightly and sheathing his knife. "You're quite the being, aren't you?"

She doesn't say anything, but tears start welling in her eyes. She just wants to get away from this man, she just wants to hug her Mommy…

Minerva runs outside at this point, as fast as she can for someone her age. "No," she whispers as she sees what's going on. "Step away!" she cries to Cronus, reminded of how she tried to save Legend's life but couldn't.

"I'm afraid it's too late," he whispers. "You've been good, Minerva. Played a key role, I'm afraid."

Minerva just blinks. She knows it's futile to try to stop him, and even though she wants to, she doesn't move, she doesn't move, just like before…

"Yes, quite a role," Cronus sighs contentedly. "In the end of the world."

Maya's shaking as Cronus moves a hand to her neck. "You're responsible for her life, aren't you? And this one…yes, this one will do quite nicely…"

Then there's a flash of light, so blinding Minerva can't even keep her eyes open, and when she's able to see again Cronus is gone, but Maya is there, swaying on her feet, breathing heavily.

"Maya!" Minerva yells, running towards the girl. Sirens are sounding at this point, but that doesn't seem to matter to Minerva. All she cares about is catching the falling toddler in her arms.

The older woman gasps when she sees a scythe, the symbol of Cronus, burned into Maya's neck. The girl is barely breathing, and her eyes are slowly closing.

Part of her thinks that maybe it'll be easier if the girl dies now.

But she knows she can't do that.

Maya's eyes slip shut and even though her chest is still moving up and down, Minerva knows that it will be a long, long time before the child wakes.

But Maya has been branded.

Minerva doesn't know what it means, but whatever it is, it can't be good.

And that is how the end of the world began.

 


	3. From Dark To Light

**"How can you prove whether at this moment we are all sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?"**

**-Plato**

Well, hello there.

My name is Maya Havoc.

I'm sure you're wondering what happened to me and all that. Well, let me answer you.

A lot.

Too much.

But, here I am, writing this anyway. I don't know why. I got Rhiannon to do the beginning because she actually knew about all that stuff and she did it all dramatically so I hope me taking over at this point isn't awful or something.

Rhiannon just told me that last sentence was extraordinarily awful.

I knew this would be terrible.

Anyways, let me start from where she left off.

The last thing I remember is someone standing in front of me and then white hot pain. It was the sort of feeling you don't forget - white hot, searing pain coursed through my body and even though that was fourteen years ago I remember it like it was yesterday.

Yes, I still have the mark on my neck.

Anyways, I woke up when I was twelve years old. My Grandma (Minerva) had been told several times that I was as good as dead, but she wouldn't pull the plug and then one day she walked into the room and I was sitting up and asking her where the heck I was.

Losing ten years of your life is really, really hard.

I was a twelve year old girl with the mind of a toddler for a while, but I was forced to learn fast, and learn fast I did. I didn't go to school. Minerva (she hated being called 'Grandma.' Said it made her feel old) told me exactly what I was - I was the combination of four Souls, and I had been marked for something unexplained to me. She said she didn't know either; every time I went out in public (which wasn't often) I'd have to cover up the burn to make it look like some gang tattoo. If asked, I did tell people I belonged to a cult.

I often wished I was normal. I mean, Minerva told me that when I turned sixteen, one of the two camps (either Greek or Egyptian) would come get me. Then the other camp would realize that one of their own was missing, and then I'd be taken there or something, effectively starting a Civil War.

I wasn't even normal in the world of "not normal."

So, in short, I spent those four years training with Minerva, fighting cardboard cutouts and learning names of weapons and all the different gods of Greek and Egypt. I was taught how to go through society in a normal way when I had to, to make people believe that I was just a human.

And, oh, right. I had nightmares.

Wow, that sounds so cliché. Like, I don't want it to, but every single time I fell asleep I would always have nightmares. Minerva knew about them, but it's not like she could help. They were always the exact same, too, mirrors of the one I had the night before.

It always started in the dark. Then my neck would start to itch, right on the spot where I'd been branded. I would just keep standing there, unable to scratch my neck. It would be a while before I would realize that I couldn't move. That was when the fear would set in. Paralyzing terror would take over my entire body and I'd find myself screaming, and things would start hissing at me and then I'd be falling.

That was when the weird part happened - something would be pressing in my mind when I started falling, if that makes sense, and a voice would start to slither inside my brain saying things like "Just give in, let me win, you can't beat me."

I would always wake up before I hit the bottom of the abyss.

I didn't know what happened if I stopped falling, or if I let the voice in.

I didn't want to know.

But, anyways, now that you know the just of who I am, I'm going to jump to this year. I was sixteen at the time, patiently waiting for one of the camps to take me.

What else could I do?

The thing that gets me every time was that it was broad daylight.

Maybe that's why I wasn't expecting it - the monster literally jumped me in the morning, when the sun was at its highest, as if it would somehow get the advantage of surprise.

Oh, damn. I'm going ahead of myself.

There's a few things I need to talk about first.

I lived in a small house Minerva had moved us to, still fairly close to the city, but just close enough to the outskirts so we didn't have any neighbours that would wonder about all the weapons and ancient artifacts.

On that particular day, I woke up, opened my window to air my room out, stretched, and then listened to Minerva's screaming.

She didn't…me and her didn't really get along too well. During our training sessions, it was fine, but when I just needed to talk to her, to let her know exactly how I felt sometimes, she was never there. She always told me not to rely on anybody, to be my own person, and just to harden up.

It was good advice, of sorts, but I was only a teenager who was destined to destroy the world. Maybe I'd accepted my fate, but I still needed some support. Sometimes, it's only healthy to need someone.

"Maya! Get out here! You've overslept again! Do you seriously think the demons will let you sleep in and then attack? Get out here now before I go in there and drag you out myself!"

Sometimes I wondered why she didn't pull the plug on me during those ten years.

It wasn't like I had a choice, though. Trying to muster up any dignity I possibly could, I threw on a loose set of clothes and walked out of my bedroom, almost ramming right into one very ticked off Minerva.

"About time! Do you know what I was about to do?" she sighed, exasperated.

"Drag me out?" I guessed, sliding past her and pouring myself a glass of water.

"Exactly." She sighed again, turning to stare at me with her piercing blue eyes. "You know, the fate of the world depends on you, child. You've got to smarten up."

"Sorry I slept," I muttered, sitting down on a stool by the kitchen counter. "Maybe it's your fault for overworking me yesterday."

"Sending you out on a run is overworking you?" she hissed, stepping closer, but I wasn't afraid of her. She'd taught me too much - I could take her down in a heartbeat. Also, she didn't even have any powers of a Soul anymore; she'd given them up when she gave birth to my mom, like every Soul did.

"No," I said, in between gulps of water, "We had back-to-back three hour training sessions, and then you sent me on a 5k run, which isn't much, granted, but afterwards you made me do an hour of aerobics and even though it was nearing midnight we still had to do the evening stretches."

Minerva didn't speak for a moment, and that's how I knew I was in serious trouble.

"Do you even have any idea the amount of pressure you've been placed under?" she seethed suddenly, only amounting to the anger building in my chest. "You are the only thing bringing the downfall of the world, and thus, you must be the only thing to save it! You have to be ready! Do you have any idea of the sacrifices I've made for you? I've kept you safe! After all this time, do you really think I need-"

"Yes," I said suddenly, not looking at her, because if I did I wouldn't be able to form a sentence. Minerva had that effect on people.

"What?" she snapped, annoyed I'd interrupted her rant.

"I have a very good idea of all the pressure I'm under, seeing as I'm the one under it," I said, in the same soft tone. I wasn't normally like this. I normally shouted at her, screamed at her and then went on a run to cool my nerves.

Maybe I was just tired of doing it day after day.

I've always heard that everybody has a breaking point. You just can't keep doing the same terrible thing and be the same, and maybe that day was my breaking point. I kinda wish it wasn't, because it changed a lot, but all I knew was that I was just sick of fighting with her, of screaming everyday just to show her I needed her.

I still do.

"Stop this," she said, but her tone wasn't nearly as scolding. I think she was just as surprised at me as I was.

"And the sacrifices you've made?" I muttered, my thoughts turning darker and darker. "Yeah, you've had it real hard. Maybe you shouldn't have gotten knocked up by Legend in the first place."

"You're scaring me, child."

I was scaring myself.

We sat in silence for a long time, before she finally said, "Happy birthday, Maya."

Sixteen. I was sixteen. The camps would be alerted to my presence and one of them would come get me, and then I'd start a war. I didn't have a choice. It was just another thing that I couldn't control.

Without a word, I got up and walked to the door of the house. I needed out. I didn't know where, I didn't know how long, but I just needed out.

"Where are you going?" she exclaimed, her voice rising once again.

"Away," I said, looking at her straight in the eyes for the first time that morning. "I'll be back. Soon. Maybe not. I really don't know."

"Maya-"

I didn't want for her to finish. I just left.

Happy birthday to me.

Yeah, it was uncalled for, blah, blah, blah.

I do regret it.

I walked for a long, long time, taking numerous buses and taxis until I found myself in the heart of the city. I still didn't know where I was going, so I wandered into the nearest coffee shop and ordered the largest drink they have with the largest amount of caffeine. The barista looked at me strangely when she handed me my order, but all I said was, "It's been a bad birthday." She nodded then, as if that suddenly made everything else make sense.

I wandered down the street for a little longer before making up my mind. I'd go see Rhiannon.

I think I mentioned her before, and now is a good time to talk about her. We met about two years ago, when I was taking a walk through the city for the first time. It was almost midnight, and Minerva said it would be good experience to kill any monsters (or injure any humans) that jumped me. I'd only killed one monster, a sort of snake creature, when another one attacked.

I would've beaten it - between my fighting skills and the magic I possessed, I definitely could've come out on top. But instead, just as I was about to deliver a blow, Rhiannon stabbed it in the heart, killing it before me.

So, naturally, I tried to kill her, figuring that she was some sort of monster that preyed upon other monsters. The thing was she didn't fight back, not once. She let me pin her to the ground, and just as I was about to deliver the killing blow, she laughed.

I don't know why her laugh stopped me, but it just sounded so carefree that I hesitated one second too long, and she swept me off my feet and pinned me to the ground.

"Who are you?" I had spat at her.

"That's not a nice welcome," I remembered her saying. "The name's Rhiannon. Spirit of Poseidon, I'll have you know." Vaguely, I realized "Spirit" was the name for Souls that the Greeks had come up with, Egyptians calling their Souls "Sacreds."

It was extremely unlikely that I'd find another Soul in the same city, so unlikely that I hadn't believed her, and it wasn't until she'd started listing off mythology and fighting techniques that no normal person would know that she changed my mind. Then I decided to stop trying to kill her and let her talk in peace.

She was indeed the Spirit of Poseidon, her dad being the previous Spirit and her mom being a regular mortal, just like how it was supposed to go. Back at that age, when we were fourteen, our magical abilities hadn't quite developed yet. I could run really fast and I could see slightly farther than normal, but that was about all. So, when she tried to double prove herself by summoning water out of the air, she failed, and I…

Well, I laughed at her.

After that, I soon discovered that she was a sassy, cocky, overconfident person with a surprising soft side. We understood each others' struggles, and even when we knew we had to part, we regretted doing so. It was nice to be able to just rant, you know?

I told Minerva once I'd gone back home and killed the number of monsters she wanted me to, and before I had even said three sentences about Rhiannon I was told never to go back. Minerva told me that she'd be a "bad influence" and that I needed time to "learn on my own."

Naturally, I didn't listen.

The next time we met each other was when I was doing some shopping for Minerva the next day - I waited in the same alley for her to show up, and surprisingly, she did. Her dad had forbidden her to talk to me, too, because for some reason we'd just be a distraction, a liability.

But both of us knew we wouldn't be able to stop talking. We had too much to share, and she was damn curious about the burn on my neck. So we'd meet up in the same grocery store, the same library, the same street, slipping notes into each others' pockets, reading them in solitude.

She was the only one who knew about the fact I was a "Broken - Soul" and marked by Cronus, and for some reason she didn't kill me. Well, don't get me wrong, I'm glad that she didn't 'cause I didn't really want to die, even if it would've been easier for everybody.

In a sense, what I'm trying to tell you is Rhiannon was my best friend. Always will be.

As I made my way to the outside of the apartment complex I knew she lived in, the thought that it was my sixteenth birthday today replayed itself over and over again in my mind. This might be the end of the world. There was already such a huge divide, and now that they'd be alerted to my existence…because of their fighting, the mortals would receive profound effects in their world. And many Souls would die - and if a Soul died, all of the knowledge was lost. Hell, if I died, then nobody would know how to hunt (I mean animals hunting other animals. Our domains affect them, too. I am totally against cannibalism) or be merciful, be independent or trust. As minor as that sounds, the outcome would be huge.

Maybe that's why I stayed alive.

I gazed up at the twenty story apartment building in front of me. Rhiannon lived on the tenth floor, in room 107, but I knew I couldn't go up there. I just waited in the alley beside the building, hoping she'd see me out her window.

I think I waited there for a solid half hour before deciding I should just leave, when the monster jumped me.

And that is how I ended up being almost beaten by a Manticore.

I know you're tired of me blabbing on about stuff, but I should probably explain about monsters, too. Monsters never died like the gods did. Their only goal is to hunt the gods, and because the gods were gone, they hunt Souls. It's all fine (well, it isn't, but you understand what I mean) except that, when you kill a monster, it doesn't really die. It explodes into a thin vapour, which then spreads across the air for days, weeks, sometimes years before finding a Host.

A Host is a human (normally weak-minded) which a monster will inhabit. It's sort of like possession - the human doesn't want to be a Host, normally; the monster just enters the body and takes over. When the creature wants to attack, the human skin will literally morph into the monster's regular appearance. So, in the case of a Centaur, the human form will jump you, and then the legs will turn into horse feet and horse hooves with no real warning and you'd be able to tell what you're up against.

Some monsters don't even need humans. Charybdis, for example, only needs a large body of water (with angry tides) to form. Panes require an area with dense forestry, and Hippocampi need calm seas or lakes. Most of the time, those kinds of creatures are peaceful, but there are the odd few that still attack you with the force of an element. Hardest to kill, in my opinion.

It's a pretty good system, I'll give them that, but there's one catch. Every Host has a Tell. It's a rule. You can't get away from it. Have you ever seen someone who just doesn't look quite right, and maybe they have a deformation that you've never seen? Chances are, they're a monster. The human may not have had this "deformity" to begin with, but they just acquire it the moment they become a Host. Continuing with the Centaur example, those Hosts have trouble walking, and are quite often on crutches. If you can spot a Tell, you can tell what monster is there and kill it or run away before they can even attack.

I knew it was a Manticore that had jumped out of the shadows due to the spiky tail it had already grown (not that I would've been able to tell any other way. A Manticore's Tell is the fact that they can't sit down. Yep, Tells can be that hard) and before I could roll out of the way a spike launched itself from the tail and landed right in my arm. Pain exploded through my body as the Manticore began to change, its upper body becoming a lion and the tail growing longer.

"Shit!" I cried, attempting to roll out of the way of the beast's oncoming pounce, but the spike had gone straight through my arm and into the wall behind me. I couldn't move my arm without a tearing pain slicing through my nerves, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway - I was so naïve I didn't even think to bring a weapon.

Suddenly the Manticore darted forwards, each of its hands next to my face. Both of our breathing was heavy as spots suddenly danced in my vision. "You're different," it muttered, its voice thick and slow, definitely inhuman. "I could smell you a mile away, but up close…"

For once, I didn't know what was going on, and I didn't like it. "I showered this morning," I protested, annoyed at the fact my voice seemed to be getting weaker. Blood oozed out of my wound, but it wasn't that bad…right?

"Ah," it suddenly said, taking one finger (or, claw, I should say) and sliding it down my cheek. I tried to look away from him, but his other hand cupped my face. "Sweet sixteen, is it? I bet this isn't what you had in mind…"

"Kill me now," I hissed, the ache in my shoulder going to a dull throb. I didn't know how long it was before I lost consciousness, but even if I didn't, the Manticore would kill me anyways. There was no way out of this.

Maybe it was better destroying half of the world instead of all of it.

"Is that any way to talk?"

The voice I'd been waiting for echoed down the alley, causing the beast to turn and stare at the source. Rhiannon was casually leaning against the wall of her apartment complex, her favourite knife in her hand.

"Two?" the Manticore gasped, almost giddy. "In the same place? This is a wonder."

Rhiannon just grunted in response. "You know, I really, really hate Manticores," she said as she moved closer, brandishing her weapon. "Always with the flair for the dramatic side. Can't you just keep it simple?"

"I-"

The Manticore didn't get to reply. With speed only a Soul could possess, she threw her knife right at its head and it dissolved into smoky vapour, vanishing into the air. Her knife clattered to the ground, no trace of blood on it. That's the only part that gets me - the no-blood-on-your-knife thing. It's kinda weird.

Rhiannon picked her knife up from the ground and then walked over to me. "You're one to talk about drama," I muttered as she wrapped her hands around the spike, still in my arm.

"Yeah, well, fight fire with fire and all that," she chuckled. "This'll hurt." Without giving me any more warning than that, she yanked the spike straight out of the wall and out of my arm, and then threw it across the alley, letting it roll away. I let out a gasp of pain and relief. It hurt way more than I was letting on, but Minerva had trained me to take control of my pain, and I wasn't going to show Rhiannon how weak I was.

"Thanks," I said, putting a hand on the wall to steady myself. The spots in my vision were growing more persistent but I would stay awake - I couldn't collapse here, in the alley…in front of Rhiannon.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sheathing her knife. "You live incredibly far away. This isn't safe."

"It's my sixteenth, Rhiannon," I said slowly. She looked straight at me, realization dawning in her eyes. She knew exactly what that meant. "Minerva and I…had a bit of a falling out this morning. I can't go back."

"Has your mark done anything?" she asked after a moment of silence. All of her arrogance was gone. Rhiannon was like that - she presented a layer of sassiness to the world, but if you got past that, she was quite soft spoken.

"No," I said quickly. The burn never did anything at all - except show Cronus had a plan for me.

"Well, what happens?" she sighed then, throwing her hands up and turning the other way. "They just come and take you? Just like that? What about me?"

"Rhi," I said, trying to calm her down. "We've both known this was coming…and you're sixteen in two months. They'll take you then."

"Maya," she said seriously, sliding her hands through her glossy hair. "This is serious. You're starting a war!"

"I get it's serious!" I cried, and tried to take a step towards her, but a wave of dizziness passed over me and I had to stop. For the first time, I became aware of the warm blood trickling down my right arm. The air suddenly felt too cold to breathe.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, narrowing her eyes and taking a step forwards.

"Yeah," I whispered, straightening myself. "Yeah, yeah…I'll be fine…"

"This is new."

A new voice, one I didn't know, rang through my ears and I snapped my head towards the sound, focusing my senses as much as possible. A tall girl was standing at the end of the alleyway, a long bow strapped to her back. Her bright red hair was frizzy and stuck out at every angle, and I could see her blue eyes from where I was standing. She looked casual, like she always approached kids she didn't know in alleyways armed with medieval weapons. Hell, maybe she did.

"Who are you?" Rhiannon called, her hand slowly traveling to her knife. Why had she pocketed it? Why hadn't I brought mine? I was an idiot.

"The name's Isabelle," she said, taking another step forwards. Something about this girl seemed off, familiar, even. "Call me Izzy."

"I don't know if I want to call you anything," Rhiannon protested, taking a step forwards as well. I, on the other hand, stayed exactly where I was. Fainting in front of both of them would be too awkward for even me to handle.

"I came here for Maya," she said, ignoring Rhiannon's hostility. "Although, I didn't know there was another Spirit here. I can sense you."

It made sense, actually. Isabelle was a Soul, sent to collect me on my sixteenth birthday. Since she had called Rhiannon a "Spirit" she was obviously from the Greek camp, and she probably had no idea that Egyptian Sacreds even existed.

"You're…a Spirit?" I asked, coughing slightly. I wanted to say "Soul" but that would've just raised a million questions.

"Pleased to meet you," Isabelle said, shifting her gaze from Rhiannon. "I didn't want to take both of you, but I suppose we'll make do. Can't just leave one of you here."

"Much obliged," Rhiannon snorted, rolling her eyes. It was clear she'd caught on, too.

"And you don't look so good," Isabelle remarked, talking to me once more. I really wanted to know what authority gave this girl the right to act in charge, but I wasn't really in the condition. My head was clouding over and sudden bursts of pain shot through my arm.

"I'm good," I whispered just as Rhiannon came over and grabbed my good arm for support. Unintentionally, I felt myself leaning on her, unable to stand up completely on my own.

"Looks painful," Isabelle commented, digging through her pockets like she couldn't give a care in the world. "Monster attack you?"

"It was a Manticore," Rhiannon shot back, apparently too worried to be sarcastic. "Maya, you look awfully pale…come inside."

"No, I'm taking her to the camp," the new girl interjected, still looking for something in her pockets. "She'll be healed there."

"My place is closer," Rhiannon said, not sparing the time to look at her. "Come on Maya, I know my parents won't like it but we've got medicine…Minerva's too far away."

Finally, with a small "Aha!" the girl pulled a pill out of her pocket. "Swallow this," she instructed, holding it out to me. "It'll help."

"That's unsanitary," Rhiannon objected. "It's been in your pocket, which is probably filled with lint."

"It's not that bad…" Isabelle immediately whispered, looking in her pockets, but then she gathered herself and said, "Trust me, it'll help the wound. Then we'll take you to the camp. I'm sure you've heard of us."

"Spirit of Artemis, reporting for duty…," I muttered. Isabelle put the pill into my hand, much to Rhiannon's distaste.

"Get healed here. Then go to the camp," she kept saying.

"Are you…is Rhiannon coming?" I managed. My vision was tunneling and I knew it was now or never.

"I suppose she has to," was the answer, and although I didn't like how uncertain it was, it was satisfactory.

I could take the pill and destroy the world by going with Isabelle, or I could not take the pill and destroy the world by going with Rhiannon. To be honest, I really couldn't care less.

I swallowed the white pill in one gulp and immediately my vision went black. My knees buckled and Rhiannon's cries of "What have you done?" faded from my ears, and just as I collapsed I couldn't help but wonder if I made the right choice.

 


	4. One Half Of The Equation

**"The feeling of not belonging, of not being entirely worthy, of sometimes being hostage to your own sensibilities. Those things speak to me very personally."**

**-Anthony Minghella**

Let's just say, when I woke up, I was expecting trumpets.

Whatever Isabelle had drugged me with was strong, because even though I was awake, actually working up the strength to open my eyes was much harder. Finally, though, I decided the comfort of the dark wasn't so comfortable anymore, and I let in the light.

I was in some kind of hospital bed, that was clear. The room I was in was also fairly large - rows of beds filled most of the space, and it seemed I'd been placed on a random one in the middle. On the walls were shelves, filled with jars of…herbs? Minerva had once told me that the Greeks preferred natural healing methods, while the Egyptians liked advanced ones, but I'd never thought they used traditional herbal remedies. A door was slightly ahead of me to, and a couple windows let in some sunlight, but I couldn't see anything outside. Nobody was in the room with me, not even in one of the beds; I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

I knew what had happened, of course. I had turned sixteen, and I had been taken to a camp. I didn't know how they knew I was sixteen, or why the Greeks knew first, but here I was. The only thing I could hope for was that Rhiannon was here too, or that the Egyptians didn't find me for a good long while.

Without knowing what else to do, I sat up, and then immediately realized that my arm didn't hurt anymore. I glanced over to see a thin, white bandage wrapped around my shoulder, covering the old wound. "Huh," I muttered.

"'Huh,' is right," said an all too familiar voice behind me.

"Thank god you're here, Rhiannon," I sighed in relief, spinning around to look at her. She seemed different somehow - she was the same height, her bleached hair still fell messily around her shoulders, but her eyes held some kind of hardness I'd never seen. Her mouth was in a tight frown, and she seemed agitated, like she knew something big was going to happen but she didn't know when. I guess she was right. "I didn't know if Isabelle would let you come…you're still fifteen."

"You got it wrong, by the way," she said, sitting down next to me on the bed. "I'm not sixteen in two months. It's February, yeah? My birthday's in November."

"You told me it was in April," I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry," she said softly. "When I told you that I didn't know if I could trust you yet."

I nodded in understanding. The point made sense. "So they really might not have brought you here. You're barely fifteen as it is."

"Well, thanks for pointing it out!" she chuckled slightly, slapping my back playfully. "C'mon. I'm supposed to bring you out, meet people. They're not too fond of me - I'm supposed to "prove myself" so they let me stay. So I get all the meaningless tasks."

"Bringing me out is meaningless?" I said, faking scorn. She stuck out her tongue in reply. Without another word, I followed her to the door, somehow accepting of my ridiculous fate. It kinda helped to just focus on what you were doing and not what you would have to do, as cliché as it sounds. Like, instead of wondering what everyone would think of my burn, I was wondering what the outside of the camp would look like.

No, I'm totally lying, I was freaking out about what they'd think about my burn. About me, in general, really. Cronus was known better in Greek mythology than Egyptian - the Egyptians called him "Apophis" and his mark was different. So walking around a Greek camp with a scythe on my neck probably wasn't the best plan, but I didn't have any alternatives. I wasn't a makeup beauty and nothing could heal this burn, so I was stuck as a walking time bomb forever.

Or, until something happened, that is.

Rhiannon opened the door and stepped into the bright sunshine. The infirmary (for lack of a better word) seemed to be positioned on a large hill above an even larger valley. Three other hills, all with buildings on top of them, were also positioned on the cardinal points around the valley. The valley itself was full of small buildings, huts, almost, and there were a few people milling about around a large like right in the middle of the clearing.

"This is it?" I asked her, sighing slightly. Minerva had been from the Greek side of things, and she told me all about what their camp was supposed to look like, so I wasn't shocked…but still, I was expecting…more.

"You'd think you were royalty," she snorted, and I shrugged. "You've got people waiting for you."

"People?" I asked, looking over. "I get Isabelle wanting to meet me, I suppose she's some kind of leader, but other people?"

"Isabelle insists she's not the leader," Rhiannon explained, already making her way down the hill. "But everyone says she is. The Headmaster is the real leader, but I haven't met him. And yeah, there's a whole group of people who want to see you."

"I'm not the important," I mumbled, but then I realized I was, and I stopped protesting and just followed Rhiannon.

We marched, single file, down the hill the Infirmary had been stationed upon. There were some nice walkways on the slopes so nobody fell, which was actually something I had been worried about doing, to be honest. There were a couple people just wandering in the valley side by side already, and it sounded like they were having a very interesting discussion about Harry Potter before they saw us.

"Ooh, the new recruits!" one of them, a short girl, laughed.

"Oh, stop, Anika," the other one, a boy, chuckled and gave a little wave. Unsure of what else to do, I waved back, but apparently I still looked awkward because he laughed again. "Hey, wait, what's that on your neck?"

"Her grandfather made her get it," Rhiannon lied, swooping in and saving me from having to come up with my own lie. Of course, my grandfather was actually Legend, the first Broken-Soul.

"Why on earth would he - oh. Found out his wife was a Spirit and freaked out?" the girl (I was pretty sure the boy had called her Anika) asked. "Yeah, that happens a lot."

"You'd think he could've put it in a better spot," I said softly, trying to play along.

"Yeah," the boy said, exhaling. "We can probably cover it up with some makeup. I'm Shane, by the way. That's Anika."

"Thanks," I said. "I think I've got to go meet Isabelle. Should I be worried?"

"Nah," Anika replied, drawing out her knife and studying it in the sunlight. "She's cool. Probably has Dustin with her, they're never apart. Oh, Rayne's got to be there as well. You might want to watch out for Rayne. Shane, does this need sharpening?"

I could tell we'd been 'dismissed' so I turned back to Rhiannon and gave her a quizzical look. "Rayne? Dustin?"

"Hey, I don't know," she said, raising her hands. "I've been practically quarantined. They still aren't happy with a 15 year old around."

"That's got to be an advantage, though," I realized as we resumed our walk towards one of the buildings. The sun was beating down on us, causing me to sweat through the warm clothes I was in. "I mean, monsters attack a lot when you turn 16, right? Like, they don't sense you so well when you're younger."

"True," she sighed, "But I'm still not 'of age.' Nobody, save for a few, really likes the idea of changing the sweet 16 rule."

I didn't have anything else to say, so we just trod along in silence until we reached the door of a very, very tall building. It was easily ten stories, possibly even higher. "What's this for?" I asked Rhiannon quizzically.

"The building?" she answered, never breaking stride. "As far as I can tell, it's for housing. Each Spirit gets a floor to themselves."

"To themselves?" I exclaimed. "But…that's a lot of room for one person."

"People are isolated here," she explained, reaching the main door to the complex and opening it for me. "Suppose it just happens after a while."

The front level was a square room, with fourteen different doors all around the walls - I could tell they were elevators. "One for each Spirit," Rhiannon said, walking towards one on the left side. "Private elevators, I suppose. Takes you to your floor and only your floor."

"This room isn't that big," I pointed out. "How can it support all of the levels above?"

Rhiannon gave me look and said, "Hey, how would I know? I'm the clueless fifteen year old. Call it magic, if you like."

Good enough for me.

She led me to an elevator labeled "Artemis." As soon as I approached it, it opened for me, and not Rhiannon. "Magic," she repeated, and the doors closed behind us, taking us up.

The trip took less than a minute, the doors opening to reveal a sitting room with a circular, wooden table and several chairs of the same wood. There were a few doors leading off the main room, one going to a kitchen, the other a bedroom, and one I couldn't see. Three people, one girl and two boys, sat at the table, leaving three spots vacant.

"Are you Maya?" the girl asked, and I nodded, slowly moving forwards, tense and on edge. "I'm Isabelle," she continued. "Please. Sit."

I drew in a long breath before doing so, the chair squeaking slightly as I sat down. Rhiannon bit her lip before I motioned for her to sit next to me. Isabelle didn't look all that pleased about it, but she let it slide.

She introduced the other two boys, one being Dustin, one being Rayne. Dustin was tall and broad, with short brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt and tattered jeans, but also a pair of black leather gloves which didn't seem to work, but I didn't comment. Rayne was of Asian ethnicity, and he seemed to slump a little more, instead of dominating the space. His eyes stared at me like he was trying to glimpse my soul, and he kept tapping the table with his fingers. Isabelle, on the other hand, seemed cheerful enough yet serious, with frizzy red hair and a few faint freckles on her cheeks.

"So," Isabelle said, "First thing I want to know is why you have a tattoo on your neck, of all places. And it's…not the…best symbol, if you know what I mean."

"I do," I confirmed, trying to take the questions in stride. "It was my grandfather. He didn't like it when he found out what my grandmother was. Took measures into his own hands and used up his anger on me."

Isabelle nodded, and she appeared satisfied with the answer. "Next order of business," she declared, and I had to cock an eyebrow. "There's a 15 year old here."

Rhiannon and I both let out a long breath of irritancy. "Seriously?" she cried. "It's just-"

"Against our rules," Isabelle interrupted her. "Sorry. But it is, and others might object."

"She could be useful," Rayne pointed out, speaking for the first time. His tone was smooth and careful, like he spent a long time deciding what to say. "Monsters would have trouble detecting her."

"Her magical abilities won't be perfect," Dustin added. He had a British accent, clearly working its way through his tone. "But…you could be right."

"You know, I'm right here," Rhiannon snapped. "Could you stop talking about me like I'm not?"

Nobody answered her. Instead, Isabelle said, "So, we vote to keep her?"

"Keep me? I'm not a pet!" she snapped, but once again, her protest went unheard.

"Yes," Dustin and Rayne said at the same time. The two glanced at each other and then looked away once again.

"Right," Isabelle said, turning to Rhiannon and flashing her a smile. "Welcome, Rhiannon. You are free to go to your room. Dinner is at six."

Rhiannon scoffed, but she stood up anyways. "Thanks," she muttered sarcastically, giving me a small look before leaving.

"That was rude," I said after she'd left, unable to stop it. "She's not a child, you know. You have no right to treat her like one."

"She's only 15," Isabelle said, pursing her lips. "She has to know that she is an exception."

"Is it a rule?" I replied harshly, feeling a strange need to punch her in the face. "She's saved my life. Does that mean I'm an exception, too?"

"Actually," she said, "Everyone is a bit wary of you, as well. You have a tattoo of our mortal enemy, whether it be consensual or not. You, besides Rhiannon, are the last new arrival. You complete us. You brought a fifteen year old. Some of us are slightly afraid of you. I would consider you an exception."

From the way she was talking, I guessed that Isabelle was the Spirit of Athena. Minerva had once told me that the characteristics of each god were passed down into their Soul, but I didn't believe her. I was, and am still, pretty sure that Souls only act like their god because they're expected to. Acting a different way would be too rebellious. Granted, sometimes I do act like Artemis and Isis, both, but still. Rhiannon certainly didn't act like a wise Poseidon. Maybe when we hit sixteen, something changes, and the pressure to conform gets too much.

Or maybe I'm over thinking the whole thing.

"Great," I muttered. "What now? Do you expect me to prove my worth or something?" Even though Isabelle was staring at me like I murdered someone, I wasn't afraid of her.

"No," she sighed, standing up. "We'll leave you here, for now. Dinner's at six. This is your floor of the building - yours, and only yours. Feel free to explore. Welcome to the Sanctuary, Maya."

"The Sanctuary?" I whispered. Nowhere was a Sanctuary.

Before they left, I called, "I have to ask. What Spirits are you?"

"Hephaestus," Dustin replied. That explained his leather gloves; he'd need them for working in the forges.

"Athena," Rayne added, sliding out of the room, making no sound. I could sort of see some Athena-like cleverness in him, but then I had no idea as to what Isabelle was.

"I'm Apollo," she answered. "God of the sun."

"I know," I said, but I was still surprised. "Shouldn't you be…happier?"

The comment was unintentional, but she said, "Consider me an exception, I suppose."

The door closed and I was left alone.

Dinner time rolled around, but I didn't actually know until I heard the blaring alarm. I was too busy exploring my new "home." There was a kitchen (though I wouldn't need it if I got my meals served to me), a bedroom, a bathroom, a sitting room, and an armory. That's right - I had bows, knives, swords, armour, shields…everything I could ever need to fight was in that room. There were also a few books. But I didn't read them.

As I mentioned, an alarm went off, which made me drop the knife I was holding, which fell to the floor and almost knocked over the display of arrows. "Goddamn," I muttered out loud, picking the knife back up and sliding it back into its slot. I wasn't hungry, and I didn't want to socialize, but I went for dinner anyway.

"Maya!" I heard as soon as I stepped out of the building. The crisp air tingled against my skin. One of the buildings on the hill next to the one I was on was completely lit up and delicious scents wafted from it. People were slowly leaving whatever buildings they were in before and flocking towards the lit building, which I assumed was the Cafeteria. "Maya, where you been?" Rhiannon draped her arm around me and together we walked to the Cafeteria, following the crowd that seemed to keep staring at us.

"I don't know," I said out of route, keeping a watchful eye on the other pairs of eyes watching me. Actually, they weren't watching me.

They were watching Rhiannon.

However, she didn't seem to care. We entered the Cafeteria just as she was making some sort of loud and obnoxious joke that I hadn't listened to. One long table with seats on both sides dominated the rectangular, brown room, with kitchens off to both ends, busy with people. Only a few places were remaining at the table, so Rhiannon and I took seats across from each other. I noticed, only a few seconds later, that Isabelle, Dustin, and Rayne had all changed seats to sit by us.

"We figured you'd be lonely," Dustin said, tapping his fingers a couple times on the table. "First day and all."

"Everyone's staring at me," Rhiannon huffed. "Where's the food?"

"You're 15," Dustin replied, "And it's coming."

Sure enough, a few workers (who never seemed to speak) brought out trays of food that everyone dug into. It seemed that Rhiannon was temporarily forgotten. "What's the deal with that?" I asked after a while. "I mean, it's just a year difference. Not even."

"People hate differences," Isabelle answered. "Even small ones. Things that break the norm are considered outlandish."

"Why aren't you staring at me like I'm from another planet, then?" Rhiannon said, violently eating a breadstick.

"'Cause you're not," Dustin scoffed. "It's not that big of a deal."

The issue was pushed under the carpet after that. We kept talking, and I learned more and more about the three. Isabelle used proper grammar, she was very polite and well-mannered, but she had her humorous moments. She was considered a leader, though, so I supposed she had to act behaved. Dustin was relaxed and easy-going, and quite funny. Rayne was quiet, well-thought out, and wise. He always seemed to know the answer to a question.

I also learned that Dustin and Isabelle were going out; however, that wasn't allowed. Two Spirits could not date each other. That would only lead to a Broken-Soul (cough, cough, me). Everybody knew that they were going out - a long story, apparently - and nobody liked it, but Isabelle had assured everyone that it would not last, and that was why she stayed in control.

"I hate to ask," I said, "But the leader of the Greek gods was Zeus. So why isn't the Spirit of Zeus considered in control?"

"Anika didn't want the position," Isabelle said, shrugging. "So I stepped up and took it."

"Oh, don't pretend you don't like it!" Dustin teased her, which launched us into more conversation.

When dinner was over, I went to sleep rather content. I had people (friends?) that seemed like they genuinely wanted to talk to me. I had a place here. I wasn't the outcast anymore.

I went to sleep relatively happy. The only thing haunting me was that I knew this wouldn't last.

_Everything's dark. I can't focus on anything. My ears are ringing and my entire body feels like there's a weight pressing down on it._

_I know I always have nightmares, and this is just another one of them. But this one is different. My neck doesn't itch. It burns. Intense pain is slithering up and down my body, and it feels like something is slamming into my head repeatedly._

_I don't know what's happening, but this is different, and I don't like it._

_"Maya."_

_The voice is smooth, slippery, almost cold and hot breath races down my back. Something's behind me. Something is right behind me but I can't turn around and I can't move -_

_"Maya, you can't hold out forever."_

_My heart is beating faster than normal and my breath is coming too short. I can't move. I can't talk. I can't do anything._

_A cold hand presses against my back and I find the ability to scream._

_I start to fall, but I still don't reach the bottom._

I woke up the next morning with the familiar adrenaline rush and the cold sweat on my forehead. I just sat there for a few minutes, stunned. The nightmares had never been like that. The burn on my neck was still itching and I swear I could feel the hand on my back.

I knew I'd always remember that voice, too.

But I collected myself, because I had to, and then got out of bed, dressed, and went down to the Cafeteria again for breakfast.

"Half of the Spirits are in one class, half in the other," Isabelle explained to me and Rhiannon as we got out breakfast. "You two are both in my class. I made sure of it."

"What strings did you have to pull to get that?" Rhiannon asked, but now her sarcastic remarks were a joke, and not serious.

"Good morning," Dustin said cheerfully as we sat down at the same spots as last night. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," Rhiannon said, shrugging, and I just nodded. I was used to the nightmares. Last night's was probably just different because I was at a new place. Right?

"We start with Archery," Isabelle continued, staying on track, as always.

"That should be okay," I said. I was the Spirit of Artemis, and she was the goddess of hunting, after all.

"You might not be that good at it the first time," Isabelle explained. "It takes some warming up to it."

"Right," I said, nodding. "Of course."

"Are you okay?" Isabelle asked, chewing her muffin in careful bites. "You look tired."

"Yeah," I said, shrugging. "Just kinda tired. Not used to this."

"Mhm," Isabelle nodded, forgetting about it in a second. I wished that it was that easy.

Rayne joined us then, his hair somehow styled perfectly and his eyes bright. "Do you just wake up like that?" Rhiannon mumbled under her breath.

"Yes," Rayne answered calmly, not even looking at us. I couldn't decide if he was rude or just extremely confident. I liked the second one better.

We ate mostly in silence, while Isabelle told us things about the classes that I didn't listen to. The voice from my nightmares kept replaying in my mind and it took a while to realize I'd been staring at Rayne the entire time I was zoned out. Quickly my eyes shot off him, but he had already seen. Thankfully, he didn't do anything, but still - I was scarred for life.

Breakfast ended and I practically scurried away from Rayne. He was still looking at me as I joined Isabelle and Rhiannon. I tried not to look back. No, really, I did - but my eyes caught his and we looked at each other before I had to blink.

"The Archery field is here," Isabelle was saying when I caught up to her. The area of the valley we were in had a few targets and some bows lying in a pile on the ground, but that was it. It seemed small to me, but Isabelle looked very proud of it.

"Line up!" someone yelled. I turned to see a tall man, dressed mostly in black, standing beside a target. A few other people were milling around the target range, too, and they all moved to grab a bow, so I did as well.

"That's Mr. Brown," Isabelle whispered to me. "Anika's dad. Just…do as he says."

I resisted the urge to laugh and got in a line with the other Spirits, wrapping my hand around the bow and trying to gauge its weight. "Everyone's going to get at least an 8 today," Mr. Brown said, addressing all of us. Rhiannon gave a nervous gulp beside me. She was the Spirit of Poseidon; no archery talent there. "When you do, you get to stop. If you don't, then fifty push-ups."

The first person in line was Jasmine, the Spirit of Aphrodite. Everything about her seemed perfect. Her eyes sparkled blue and her hair looked like pure gold. It was hard to draw my eyes away from her. She shot her arrow, but only landed a 5, which made her throw her hands up in anger. "That's good enough," she protested. "That's on the board. That's good enough."

"Back of the line," Mr. Brown sighed, like he was used to dealing with her.

"But I-"

"Back. Of. The. Line."

"Fine," Jasmine snapped rudely. "I don't even need archery."

Mr. Brown shot her a look that could kill as the next person (Isabelle) stepped up to shoot. She looked experienced, and her god, Apollo, was the other god of archery, so she hit an 8 on her first try. She and Mr. Brown both shrugged as she moved away from the line and sat down on the grass a few feet from the target.

Rhiannon was next, and although she was awful she gave it her best and landed a solid 3. I thought it was pretty good, but it made Jasmine and a few other people erupt into laughter. Mr. Brown tried to hide a smirk of his own as Rhiannon grumbled and moved to the back of the line, where Jasmine proceeded to turn and talk to her. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Rhiannon did not look happy.

"You're up," Mr. Brown barked at me and I forced myself to look away from the rest of the Spirits. The bow fit easily in my hands, even if it wasn't weighed correctly, I still drew the string back and let the small arrow fly. My vision tunneled, as I knew it would (Minerva, my grandmother, had taught me to use a bow when I was seven), and I saw the exact path of the arrow as it flew through the air and landed a perfect bulls-eye.

"She's cheating!" Jasmine called from the back immediately.

"That's lucky," I heard Isabelle say in a low voice, but as I looked over, she wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Beginner's luck?" Mr. Brown suggested and I shrugged, setting down the bow and arrow and sitting by Isabelle, letting Shane (the person after me) prepare to shoot.

"How did you do that?" Isabelle whispered as soon as I sat down. "You shouldn't be able to do things like that!"

"I guess it was just beginners luck, like he said," I lied. "It just happened."

"I guess," she replied, shaking her head a few times and turning back towards the class.

Archery was finally over, with only Rhiannon and Avery (Spirit of Ares, the war god) left. They both did fifty push-ups and we moved onto the next class.

I thought they would go okay; they didn't.

During Regular Schooling, I knew almost every answer in the book. I ran the five miles in gym faster than anybody previously had, and I already had full control of my powers in magic (though I did learn a handy spell for night vision). I knew all of the god's History in that class before Mr. Berello even opened his mouth, and the "Practicality" class (which threw you into a situation and you had to get out of it) was extremely easy.

It turns out that being a Broken-Soul and having the powers of four gods makes you stronger than I thought it would, making me excel at everything. It sounds good in principle, but nobody would believe my "beginner's luck" excuse after a few times. Rhiannon knew why I why I was doing so well, but by the time Dinner was over I was already getting some jealous stares.

"You've got to hide it," Rhiannon hissed when we were walking back to our rooms. "I mean, it was awesome what you did, but…"

"I know," I whispered. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that it would show as much as it did."

Just then, Rayne brushed by my side, and even though Rhiannon didn't hear them I was sure he whispered, "Be careful," into my ear. He shot me a short look before he hurried ahead.

"He totally likes you," Rhiannon commented dryly.

"No," I snapped immediately. "He does not."

"Oh," she realized, a smile creeping onto her face. "You like him."

"No!" I protested even louder. "Definitely not! Stop making that face!"

We said goodbye then, and I went up to my room and she to hers. I should've felt good, but I didn't. I knew I was going to lead the Egyptians here. I knew I was way too powerful for my own good. Something was up with Rayne, and I didn't know what. My nightmares were getting worse and I didn't know what they meant.

No matter how long I stayed here, I would never truly belong.

 


	5. 5. The Answer Is Found

**“Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn’t stop for anybody.”**

**-Stephen Chbosky, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”**

 

_“Maya, you can’t hold out forever.”_

_I want to yell, but I can’t. My voice is failing me and my knees threaten to give out, but I have a feeling that if I fall I will hit the bottom. I don’t know what happens if I do, but I don’t want to find out._

_Stabbing pain races through the burn on my neck and I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out. Something’s enveloping around me, like a dark cloud of smoke, and it keeps whispering for me to give in, to let it in. I don’t know what it means. I don’t want to know. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know what’s happening…_

_“Give in!”_

_I don’t, and I fall, but I still don’t reach the bottom._

_Part of me wants to._

********

“Help! Attack! Attack!”

I woke to intense screaming, stabbing the air like a knife. I didn’t know who was crying out, but it sounded real, and very dangerous. I’d been in the camp for over a month now, but nobody had ever screamed that loudly, and definitely not in the middle of the night. 

Without hesitating, I pushed the nightmare as far away as it would go and jumped out of bed. I grabbed my dagger, and leaped into the elevator as I heard another scream and the clanging of metal. I knew what was happening before I even made it outside, but I couldn’t accept it, I wouldn’t accept it. 

“Maya!” I heard as I ran outside. Rhiannon was immediately by my side, looking just as frazzled as I felt. 

“What’s happening?” I cried as I heard more screams. Something that sounded like a battle cry was roared out, but I didn’t recognize the voice. “Are we…are we being attacked?”

Someone else was at my side then. “Yes.” It was Isabelle, and if I didn’t know her so well, I wouldn’t have recognized her. She’d never sounded so panicked before. “But nobody knows who we are, or where we are!”

“We’ve got to fight,” I cried. “People could die. Legacies of gods could be destroyed!”

If it had been monsters that were fighting, I would’ve slaughtered them all. But as we ran down to the valley, it was only people. Maybe ten or so teenagers, just like us, were attacking the Greeks. It was the Egyptians. It had to be. But nobody here knew that the Egyptians even existed. I couldn’t say anything. They were here for me. If anyone died, it would be on my hands. But I couldn’t just outright say what I was, either. 

I didn’t know what to do. 

“There she is!” I heard someone scream, and I just knew they were talking about me. That was it. I wanted to stay here. I drew my dagger and, with Rhiannon by my side, plunged into the battle. 

I had never been in a full scale battle before, and even though there were only roughly twenty kids fighting, it was like nothing I’d ever been in. Cries echoed through my ears and the only thing I saw were bodies going every which way. Every halo of metal shining in the darkness distracted me and I didn’t realize someone was standing right in front of me before they grabbed my wrist and drew a knife out. “Sorry,” they said, holding the metal to my neck. 

I should’ve reacted. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. But it was like my instincts were slowed down, and I couldn’t think. Instead I felt paralyzed, trapped in the hold. The metal felt cool against my neck and I had never been so exposed. 

“Maya!” I heard someone yell. It was…Rayne? I tried to find him with my eyes but I couldn’t. Why was he yelling for me? I couldn’t think straight. Everything blurred together. What was going on?

A soft voice spoke in my ear - the person who had their knife to my neck. “Honestly, I’m sorry that I have to-”

Suddenly the knife was thrown away from my neck and I finally managed to snap back to reality. The person behind me was doubled over and I pushed them away, causing them to fall to the ground. In the flurry of activity that seemed to be all around me, I made out Isabelle, holding a stray arrow in her hand. The tip was coated in blood. 

I didn’t have time to focus on her. With a quick nod, I tried to find where Rayne had called from. He wouldn’t have called if he wasn’t in trouble. 

I moved through the battlefield, which seemed ridiculously long for the small amount of people that were there. I had never been in a battle before. Someone screamed and a body dropped to my feet, causing me to yelp in surprise. It was Dustin. A long knife was sticking out of his side and he wasn’t moving, he wasn’t moving…

Someone grabbed my shoulder and I turned on instinct to see another enemy fighter. I didn’t know if they were the one who hurt Dustin, but I was so angry it didn’t matter. I drew my knife and immediately went at it. The other person, a girl, shook her head and parried my blows. We seemed to be locked in combat, but she was better than me, how was she better than me - 

I felt a small pain shoot up my back, but it wasn’t because of the girl in front of me. She was just staring at me as my knees gave way and what was going on? 

“I’m so sorry!” the girl in front of me cried, turning and running, back the way that she came before. Someone was yelling my name again. Was it Rhiannon? Where had she gone?

I felt myself fall forwards just as somebody grabbed me and pulled me back up, lifting me into their arms. I couldn’t fight it. My limbs fell limp.

My eyes closed and I stopped trying to stay awake. 

********

For once I woke without any nightmares. That was refreshing in itself, but the calm feeling in my chest quickly disappeared when I figured out where I was. Or, rather, where I wasn’t. 

I felt an odd sense of déjà vu as I realized I was lying on a soft hospital bed, but I wasn’t in a hospital. My vision cleared almost instantly - I had Artemis to thank for that, I guess - and I saw that the walls were gray and metal, and although there were a few doors in the room they all looked like prison cell doors with one window and solid steel surroundings. One bed lay beside me, and there was someone in it, awake, and looking right at me. 

"About time," he said, clicking his tongue. "Seriously, and you're supposed to be Isis."

"Rayne," I said after a while, "Are you - are you a-"

"Broken-Soul?" His voice was hushed, but his tone serious. "Yes, I am. Athena and Geb, the Egyptian earth god."

I swallowed roughly. "How can there be two?" I found myself asking. "That - that isn't right. Two in the same generation?" I didn't mention the fact that I had two forgotten gods, Cheele and Hiros, in me but - honestly they never did anything for me, anyways. 

"Maybe our parents planned it," he said dryly, and I would've rolled my eyes if we weren't in some steel holding compartment. In fact, there were no doors at all, or windows; just solid metal. It felt like an air-tight containment cell. I tried to see past the door with my hawk vision, but I couldn't even access that. Actually, it felt like all of my Soul abilities were gone in this room. We were definitely with the Egyptians. 

"How did you know I was Isis?" I finally said, working up the courage to turn back to Rayne. 

"Someone came in while you were asleep. Which you did for a while," he replied, turning away from me to stare at the ceiling. "And told me...he knew, somehow. And he gave you that."

He turned back to point at my neck. I looked down to see a bright diamond around my neck, and although it was tiny, it was the shiniest jewel I'd ever seen. "What is this?" I asked, as my hands wound around it to find that it was on a thin string chain. The entire thing was extremely small, so small that I'd never wear it by choice, but as soon as I tried to remove it from my neck exhaustion swept over me and I nearly fell back into the bed. Minerva had never taught me about these. 

"Look, I don't know," he snapped. I turned to face him as well and saw that he had a stone around his neck as well, a white one that looked kind of like quartz. "But someone came into the room, gave us these, and left. And they woke me right up, okay? That's all I know."

My face softened. "I know," I said. "I just - I just thought you might know more than I do."

"Well, I don't," he said, and then he looked away and I knew he wouldn't look back on his own. 

Five minutes went by. Ten minutes. Fifteen, thirty, forty. And then, finally, a piece of the wall slid open to reveal a door that had been there all along, and a man walked in. He was the tallest person I'd ever seen, with a long white coat and a small clipboard in his hands. He was also kinda cute, but I let that go. "Is this an examination?" I found myself muttering. 

"No," he replied, "Though that would be nice."

Rayne and I exchanged a look of bewilderment, but the man didn't notice. "Okay. So. Rayne, your roommate is Avi. Maya, your roommate is Tayla. I expect you to start classes tomorrow."

"Who are you?" I said quickly as the man turned to leave. 

He turned slowly to look at me, his eyes showing pure annoyance. "I'm just the doctor," he said. "Go to your rooms. You're free to go."

"Just like that?" I asked, refusing to let him leave, which probably pissed him off. I could sense Rayne staring at me, digging holes into the back of my head with his eyes, and I knew he wanted me to shut up, too. 

"Yes, just like that!" the doctor person cried, sighing. "What, are you expecting some magic carpet? The Greeks captured you. But we know you're really Egyptian, so we brought you here and freed you. So now you're to act like the Sacreds you truly are. That's it. Now go."

Of course they'd think we'd been captured. But then I realized - the Egyptians knew about the Greeks now. And the Greeks...well, I would hope they'd figure it out soon. There was no one else that it could've been. So what was going to happen?

I didn't want to think it, but I knew war was inevitable. 

The doctor left before I could ask anything else, so I looked back to Rayne and got out of the bed, but Rayne wasn't looking at me. Instead, he was watching the doctor leave, and only blinked when the door closed behind him. "Well," I said, smirking as Rayne snapped out of his trance and looked at me, "Guess I wasn't the only one who thought he was cute."

I think that was the first time I made Rayne blush. "Shut up," he growled, getting out of the bed as well and walking to where the door was (since it was closed, it just looked like solid wall again). "We have to find people."

"Yeah," I said, following him, still smirking. "Who was your roommate? Avi? Maybe he'll be hot, too."

His eyes shifted in my direction but he didn't actually turn. "Seriously," he sighed. "Shut up." 

"Just saying," I said. Rayne pushed the wall lightly and the door slid open, so we left the room behind. Outside was a metal hallway that looked eerily similar to the room. There were no windows and the hallway stretched out to either side, turning in many different directions in several points. Arrows were painted on the walls at every turn, detailing where that hallway was going. It felt air conditioned, though, so there was something. Still, it was direct contrast from the Greek camp, which had been open and outside. 

"Rooms are this way," I said, pointing to an arrow that pointed a little ways to our left. In silence, we followed the directions until we reached a stretch with six doors, three on the left and three on the right. The hallway ended after that. "There you are," I told Rayne, and motioned to the first door on the left. It had two nametags on it, one with 'Avi' written on it and another that was blank, presumingly for Rayne. 

"Yeah, and you're over there," he replied. I was on the right, in the second door with Tayla, whoever that was. I took a step, but as soon as Rayne spoke, his room door opened and an extremely fit guy walked out. 

"Rayne?" he said, looking over us and settling his eyes on Rayne. "And Maya? It's amazing to meet you. This is amazing." This guy's hair was bright blond (probably dyed), and his eyes were baby blue. I had to assume he was Avi, and yes, he was very cute. 

Rayne seemed lost for words, so I tried not to laugh and stepped forwards to give him a light handshake. "Hi," I said. "Nice to meet you too - Avi, right?"

"That's me," he said, nodding. His handshake was firm but his smile was bright and genuine. "Rayne, you're my dorm mate, right?"

"Right," Rayne replied. 

"I should let you both be," I said, smiling at Avi again. It was nice to have a friendly face. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Maya," Avi said, and Rayne gave me a slight nod before following Avi into the dorm room, the door closing with a soft click. I turned, took a short breath - I was still processing everything that had happened in such short amount of time - and I entered my dorm room. 

The room itself was larger than it looked on the outside, but nothing special - two beds, two shelves, two sets of drawers, two paintings hanging above each bed, both depicting Egypt. A girl was lying on the bed closest to the door, with brown hair and sharp hazel eyes. Her gaze immediately flickered to me and she closed the book she was reading to stand. "Hi," she said. "I'm Tayla. Maya, right?"

"Yeah," I said, closing the door softly. "Nice to meet you." I looked over at the other bed to see it already had clothes, books, and supplies on it. "Jeez, it's like everyone knew I was coming before I did."

Tayla shrugged, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile. "Probably true...we've been ready for you for a long time. If the Greeks had you, it makes sense why we had to wait so long."

My lips pursed, but I said nothing to that. Instead, I asked, "So what god are you the Sacred of?"

"The one and only Bast, of course," Tayla laughed, and looking her over, it made perfect sense. Souls didn't always physically embody their god, but in Tayla's case, she did. Bast was the goddess of cats (among other things), and Tayla had a cat-like agility look to her, especially in her eyes. "And you're Isis."

"The one and only," I repeated, and Tayla laughed again. It was a beautiful sound, her laughter. 

"Anyways!" she said after a while, "You have to start classes tomorrow...soon, I know, but it's mandatory...I'll show you around, don't worry. How's Rayne doing?"

It was hard to keep up with Tayla's speed, but I managed to say, "Yeah, he's fine."

"Avi will treat him well, don't worry about that. Besides, Avi was almost itching to have a roommate." 

"You're friends with Avi?"

Tayla smiled. "Best friends. We were the first two Sacreds brought here, you know that? Funny story. I'll have to get around to telling you that one time. But for now, you should rest. It's almost midnight."

It wasn't that late, I hadn't thought, but I just nodded. "I'm looking forwards to hearing it - and sure. I guess this side is mine?"

"Yep," Tayla replied, moving back to her side and flopping on the bed, much like a cat would. "Turn the lights off when you're done?"

"Sure." I didn't feel like sorting anything out - physically or emotionally - so I just shoved everything off my bed and lay down on it too, reaching up and flicking off the lightswitch. The room was plunged into darkness. 

"I'm glad you're here," Tayla said quietly after a few seconds, and when I looked over, I saw her eyes were glowing green. 

"Me too," I said, but it was a lie. Even if 'here' was the best experience of my life, I was going to be the reason this place was destroyed. I couldn't leave - there was no way I'd get out - and if I died before the Greeks came, that would wipe out four different gods. Tayla was nice, this place was nice, but I had no choice but to stay here and wait for civil war.

"See you tomorrow," Tayla said, and her eyes shut, cutting off the only light in the room.


	6. The Eye Of The Storm Is A Myth

**"I guess the whole world is made up of things coming together and things coming apart."**

**-Emily Wing Smith,** _"Back When You Were Easier To Love."_

 

I had a nightmare that night. I didn't reach the bottom. I didn't try to reach the bottom. But I still wanted to, maybe because I wanted them to end, because I wanted to have a normal dream for once - but I didn't. And I don't know why.

Life at the Egyptian camp was extremely...normal. Granted, I was on edge for most of the time there, but this time nobody was looking at me strangely, and nobody even batted an eye when I walked into the classroom for the first time. I sat next to Tayla, and she helped me with getting used to everything. Rayne sat with Avi, as well, and during breaks the four of us grew closer. 

And, the Egyptians didn't even think twice about the scythe burn on my neck. Probably because Cronus wasn't a figure in Egyptian mythology, but still. It was nice not to have to hide it all the time. 

I also found out exactly what those necklaces were. Every single Sacred here had one - they were called "Jewels" and each one was a different colour. They held the power of a god, each one, so whenever I wore mine I was always far stronger, even stronger than I had in the Greek camp. All of my Egyptian, or Isis, magic came from it, causing it to heat up in use. It also helped me in a different way - now I could focus all of my powers individually, and call on the one I wanted.

Things carried on peacefully for about two weeks before slowly things started to crumble. It was late one night, and Avi and Rayne were in mine and Tayla's dorm. We were joking around about some homework we had for Magics class when suddenly Tayla shut her book and looked up at me and Rayne. "I have a question," she said, speaking slowly, her eyes quizzical. "And you have to answer honestly."

"Sure," I said, closing my book too. "What's up?"

Tayla exchanged a _look_ with Avi before she spoke. "When - When you were at the Greek camp, what happened to you both?"

Rayne's head shot upwards and my eyes widened. Our eyes shot to each other. What the hell were we supposed to say? Rayne wasn't helping, either - he was just staring at me, waiting for me to speak, but I could see the small glint of fear in his eyes. 

Avi took our silence as an invitation to speak. "We mean, why were you there? Why did they take you? You're obviously Sacreds, so what did they have to gain by taking you? And more importantly, we didn't even know they existed until now. So have they always known we existed? Are they trying to start a war?"

"Yes," I said quietly, refusing to look anyone in the eye. "Yes, they - we - are going to start a war."

All three of them inhaled sharply, even Rayne. He was still staring at me, and when I finally looked up at him, I saw that his eyes were softened, and he nodded, beckoning me to go on. "Tell them," he said when I didn't speak. "Tell them everything."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." I'd never seen him so vulnerable, and that scared me.

"Tell us what?" Tayla asked softly. 

I looked over at them, opened my mouth, and then closed it again. If I told them, it could change the world. And if I didn't tell them? Then they'd be unprepared for the attack. So I told them. 

"Rayne and I...we're Sacreds, it's true, but...we're also Spirits," I began. "Spirits are what the Greeks call us, it means the same thing. I prefer to use the term Souls, but anyway. We're...we're both."

Tayla's eyebrows arched. "Both? You mean - like Broken-Souls?"

"Yes," I said, sighing. "We are both Broken-Souls."

The room was silent for a long, long time before Avi finally said, "So the Greeks didn't know about us either?"

"No," I replied. "They didn't. So from their perspective, you attacked them, and took two of their own. And they're going to come back and attack you."

My heart was beating out of my chest during the next silence. "We can't tell anyone," Tayla realized, running her fingers through her thick hair. "Can we? So we're just going to vulnerable for an attack?"

"And people could die," I finished. "And if a Soul dies? The god dies too."

"Okay," Avi sighed. "Okay. Tell me then - what are you? Like, what other gods?"

"I'm Geb and Athena," Rayne said, finally jumping in. "And Maya is Isis and Artemis." I realized, then, that Rayne didn't know about me also being Cheele and Hiros, the two forgotten gods. I didn't say anything, because I didn't think it mattered - besides, nobody even knew about those two gods anymore.  

Tayla and Avi exchanged another look, but just nodded. "Okay."

"Really? You're just - okay with this?" I asked, my eyebrows arching now.

"Well, yeah," Avi replied. "You're our friends. This doesn't change that. Besides, if a war is going to start, we might as well have two extremely powerful people on our side!"

"True," Tayla agreed, "but seriously? Two in the same generation? Was this planned?"

"That's what I said!" I cried.

We laughed, and in that moment, I thought it might be okay.

**********

_"Your "friends" are coming today. They're all going to die. Give in to me and none of them will feel the pain that you're feeling."_

_The voice whispers different things to me this time, which is even scarier, but I can't feel the fear because of the pain coming from my neck. It's the worst it's ever been and I'm screaming but my voice has no sound. My hands and knees are on the thin ground and I know, if I fall, I can't keep myself up._

_"They're going to die. But give in to me, just give in, and you will be strong. You can_ save _them!"_

 _The voice is right. I've never thought that before. But through the haze of the pain and the smoke all around me, all I can think is_ it's right, it's right, give in, give in!

_I'm trying. For a moment, I almost do._

_But then I don't. The ground gives out, and I fall, and I feel like I can see the bottom-_

**********

"Maya! Maya, wake the hell up! _Maya!_ "

My eyes snapped open and I felt myself stumble backwards into the arms of somebody else. My breaths were heaving, but my vision cleared and I saw that I was standing in the middle of the hallway, outside of the dorm rooms, and Tayla was behind me. "Was I sleepwalking?" I asked, my voice quiet.

"Yes," she said, and I turned to face her. Her eyes were glowing in the night, but instead of looking fierce she just looked scared. "You were. Do you do that often?"

"No," I said. "Thanks for stopping me." What I wanted to say was _'thanks for stopping me because otherwise I might've given in to a really creepy voice and who knows what would've happened.'_

"Yeah, well, you probably would've gone further," she said, letting out a breath, "But there's a girl in our room."

I blinked. "What?"

"A girl. In our room. She woke me up. She said she knows you? Her name's Rhiannon or something?"

I swallow deeply, and as much as I wanted to run to Rhiannon and hug the life out of her, I didn't, because tonight? Tonight the world was changing. "Tayla," I said slowly, "Wake up Rayne and Avi. Please."

Tayla's cat-eyes widen. "Is she - is Rhiannon-"

"A Greek. Rhiannon is from the Greek camp. And if she's here? Then they're all here."

I hadn't known Tayla long, but from the look she was given me, I knew I could trust her with my life. "Are we running?" she asked as I moved towards our dorm. I could hear someone shouting from a long ways down the hall. 

"Yes," I said. "We're running. And Tayla?" Her hand froze on the doorknob of Rayne and Avi's room. "Thank you."

She faked a smile, gave me a quick nod, and we both separated.

I forced the memory of the nightmare out of my head and ran into our room. Sure enough, standing there staring at me, was a face I never thought I'd see again. "Maya," she gasped when I entered, and I tried to move towards her, but I was caught in the moment. 

She was _there._  

Instead, she came to me, and threw her arms around me. "Thank god," she whispered, pulling away and looking at me carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said, my smile unbreakable. "I'm okay. Are you?"

"Yeah," she replied, and in that moment, I wanted _this_ to last forever. 

But it couldn't. "Wait," I asked, "How are you here? Where's everyone else?"

"I snuck away - no one cares I'm just a 15 year old - but Maya, it's bad. They know about you and Rayne being a Broken-Soul. And they're coming to slaughter the Egyptians because they believe the Egyptians set the whole thing up."

I actually scoffed. "You mean the Greeks think the Egyptians wanted Broken-Souls?"

"Yes," Rhiannon answered. "We've been in training for weeks now. And then? Then they're coming for _you_. Where's Rayne? We have to run, now!"

On cue, the door opened again, and Tayla rushed in, Rayne and Avi close behind. They'd both been smart enough to grab their weapons - a knife and a gun for Avi, a crossbow for Rayne - but when they saw Rhiannon, they stopped. "It's okay," I said. "She's my friend."

Just as I spoke, a harsh cry came out - someone screaming bloody murder. A shot rang out right afterwards, and the screaming stopped. "Ah, hell," I hissed, running to my side of the room and throwing on some good clothes and grabbing my weapons while Tayla did the same. When I was done, I looked over at everyone. "Wait," I said, "Where's Isabelle?"

Rhiannon just looked at me sadly. "Isabelle's not coming. Dustin was seriously injured in the fight and she's staying with him."

It hurt a bit, knowing I wouldn't see her again, but I just nodded. "Okay," I said. "So it's just us then. Are you all ready?"

With a quick nod from everyone, we left.

**********

The Egyptians were just waking up when the Greeks brought a full-frontal attack down on them. I knew they'd be lucky if none of them died, but I couldn't stay and help. Instead, I followed Rhiannon out of the hallway, my daggers drawn, trying to be as silent as possible. We made it pretty far before more shots rang out, and this time, they didn't stop. 

"It's starting," Tayla hissed from behind me. "We have to help!"

"What can we do?" Rhiannon countered. "We've got to go! They'll kill us!"

Tayla looked pained, and I understood why, but I couldn't help her, even though I wanted to. "If you need to go, go," I told her. 

"No," she said, "This is more important. Right?"

I couldn't tell her she was right because I didn't think she was. I had no idea where we were even going to _go_. I _wasn't_ that important. But Rayne and I did have to leave, and if she felt that getting us to safety was the most important thing? Than that meant I could never repay her. 

"Okay," Rhiannon said. "I've got a route for us - we're going to have to sneak around the Greek forces, though, and-"

"Rhiannon?"

We all turned to see a Greek - I was pretty sure it was Anika, the Soul of Zeus - standing in front of us, her sword drawn, looking quizzical. "You found them?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, shoot," Rhiannon sighed. "Really sorry about this, Anika." Before any of us could say anything, Rhiannon swung her fist back and nailed Anika right in the face, causing the girl to fall to the ground in a heap. 

"Did you really have to do that?" I sighed, looking over her shoulder to make sure Anika wasn't dead or anything.

"She would've compromised us," Rhiannon said, shrugging. "Now - let's go!"

And we took off. 

Screams and the sounds of battle cries followed us as we ran through the compound. Somehow, Rhiannon knew exactly where we were headed, even though she'd never been here before. A couple times, we had to stop and let people pass us by, but it seemed like we were moving through the fight easily. 

I bet it was me that jinxed it. 

We turned a corner that looked abandoned, but as soon as we did, we found ourselves in the main point of the battle. Five Greeks and five Egyptians, as well as a couple professors, were lined up, facing off against each other. None of them were moving, and both sides were waiting for a first move - until we stumbled right in between them.

"Rhiannon?" I heard one of them say. 

"Tayla? Avi? What the hell are you doing?" someone from the other side asked. 

"It's Rayne! And Maya! Quick, get them!" But nobody moved to 'get us.'

"Right," I sighed. "Magic?"

Rayne was the only one who didn't seem stunned enough to answer. "Yeah. Magic."

I hadn't wanted to use magic, mostly because that meant hurting these people, and I definitely didn't want to do that - but now we had no choice. Quickly, I found the first spell in my head that would work, and then hurtled it out of me. 

My Jewel grew hot, like it always did when I used Egyptian magic, and I felt time slow down. I closed my eyes, felt a cold feeling spread through my body, and opened them, not five seconds later. 

Everyone, except me and my friends, were on the ground, asleep. They'd fallen down on top of each other, but no one was hurt, and they weren't trying to stop us anymore. "Are they dead?" Avi asked from behind, staring at me. 

"They're sleeping," I said. I had had no idea if that was actually going to work, or how long they'd be sleeping - hey, even a Broken-Soul has some kinks to work out. "Let's go."

"I could've done that," Rayne grumbled from behind me, and I just laughed. 

And then we were out of the compound, and away from the battle.

**********

"That was too easy. _Way_ too easy."

We all agreed with Tayla, but we didn't know what that meant. "Well," I said, "To be fair, they were all asleep."

Once we had gotten out, we'd found ourselves quite literally in the middle of a desert. A few small villages were in sight but other than that, it was just us, the harsh sun and the long sand landscape. The Egyptian compound was south of us - because Rayne was the Soul of Geb, he knew all kinds of direction facts - and we could still see that clearly, but in the distance it didn't look as mighty as it had. 

"Probably not anymore," Rhiannon sighed. "They could all be dead."

"They're not," Rayne replied. 

"He's right. If they were dead, then nature would die, people would come back to life like zombies, love would end, fires would go out..." I could've gone on, but the list was extensive. 

"Yeah, well, they _will_ be dead," Tayla said. "Whenever they wake up."

"And then they'll come after us," Rayne said. "Look, it comes down to this - they're going to figure out that Maya and Rayne and Broken-Souls pretty quickly, and so they're going to try and kill you both. And then? Then they're going to kill us, because we're traitors now."

"I don't know if they'd _kill_ us...," Avi began, but he trailed off, and I couldn't blame him.

"I punched out Anika," Rhiannon sighed, but she almost laughed. "You both came with me. Everyone saw it. So we have to _run_."

Before she could say any more, a deafening _boom_ came from behind us. We spun around to see a huge orange and gray cloud spiral up into the air, right over where the Egyptian compound had been. Shouts came faintly from that direction.

"Screw it," I yelled as gunshots sounded from behind. The distant sound of a helicopter made even more adrenaline course through me and then I was off, running, everyone else close behind. 

We were not going to get caught.

**********

It seemed like hours and we were still running, away from the compound and away from all of the gunshots and explosions. I had no idea what had exploded the building - it wasn't me - but from the way the world was still intact, nobody had died. Or, had died _yet_. 

We finally found ourselves in a small town on the edge of the small desert, with one tiny hotel-like place that let us stay. Rhiannon had been smart enough to bring some more common supplies, like currency. Where would I be without Rhiannon?

Even with all of us packed into a tiny one-bed room, it didn't feel _real_. Only hours ago I was peacefully asleep, surrounded by friends. And now I was on the move, being hunted. To be fair, though, I was still surrounded by friends - because of that, I was ever grateful. Adrenaline wasn't letting me think about what had just happened, but I knew that would go away pretty quickly, and then? Then the nightmares would come.

"Why don't we play Truth or Dare?"

Avi's suggestion made all of our heads turn. "What?" Rayne said dryly. 

"I haven't played that since elementary school," Tayla said wistfully. "I was in grade one…we were daring each other to do the stupidest of things, like walk into the grade seven's classroom and stuff. It was probably the last time I was totally and completely carefree."

I nodded thoughtfully. I had never played Truth or Dare, and even though I was fine with it, I looked around and saw neither Rayne nor Rhiannon looked entirely comfortable. "How about spin the bottle instead?" I suggested. I hadn't played that either, but it was a lot more fun without the whole 'dare' thing. 

"We don't have a bottle," Rayne pointed out, and I shot him a look of _'why-are-you-always-the-downer?'_ He scowled at me in response.

"I have a pen?" Tayla held up a small blue pen that she'd had in her pocket. "Does that work?"

"A pen works!" Rhiannon cheered, and then she made us all sit in a circle, giving Tayla the first 'spin.' Tayla looked slightly frightened as she spun the pen. It went around three times before it slowly, slowly landed on…

I laughed when I saw the tip of the pen pointing directly at me. "Let's do this," I said, winking at Tayla and then leaning in. She laughed nervously, but did the same, and then our lips touched. I could tell she didn't want to stay long, but the kiss lingered for a second before we both went back to our original positions. The rest of the group was cheering and laughing. "Maya's turn!" Rhiannon declared.

I spun the pen, watching the tip twirl around and around, until it stopped. "Oh, this should be fun," I said laughing, looking at Rayne. 

"Yeah, whatever," he grumbled, but we both went in anyway. Rayne didn't like girls - that much I knew - so I kept it short.

By the end of the night, we'd all kissed each other, some of them more intense than others. Still, it felt good to just…relax like this. I made a mental note to do this more often; at least, when we weren't being chased by people who wanted us dead. We fell asleep that night strangely content, none of us on the bed; instead, we lay on the floor, limbs tangled together. It was _good_.

It didn't last.

**********

 _"I almost had you. Remember last time? I almost had you. You_ trusted _me! You can always do it again."_

_I shake my head but I don't know why; it's not like I can see the voice. My body is shivering and I can feel his breath against my neck, right on the burn. It feels good, though, to have him there. Almost comforting. When he's there, whispering these things to me, the burn doesn't hurt so much._

_I know I can't let this keep going the way it's going. I open my mouth, expecting to not be able to talk like always, but a strangled yell escapes my lips before my vocal cords shut off again. This has never happened, not once before._

_"Good, good," the voice says, but he's (at least, the voice sounds masculine) drawing away and the burn erupts into pain. "You're getting better. Soon, we can have a conversation, like civil people, and we'll talk this through."_

_I don't want to, I don't want to - and then I fall, further and further, holding my hands out because I can almost_ see _the bottom-_

**********

I woke up with my face on the floor and a stinging pain in my ankle. "What-?" I tried to talk, but my vision was fuzzy and I was eating the hotel carpet so the word came out unintelligible. Slowly, I pushed myself up on my forearms, and looked up to see all of my friends standing around me and looking concerned.

"What?" I asked, trying again. My ankle still felt a bit numb, so I looked back to see that I had…tripped? A book was lying behind me, in the right spot that I would fall like I had. But why was I walking? 

"You were sleepwalking again," Tayla said quietly. "And you wouldn't wake up, so we made you fall over. It worked, I guess."

"Oh," I replied. Butterflies of fear ran through me - this was the second time now I'd done this, and why? Because the voice in my head was getting stronger? Suddenly, it seemed like a real threat, and not just some PTSD symptoms. 

"Maya," Rhiannon said, offering me her hand so I was standing with everyone, "Was it - you know."

"I think so," I whispered quietly. "I think - my nightmares are changing, getting worse. Something's wrong."

"Wait, hold up," Avi interjected. "What nightmares?"

Quickly, I told them everything, about how Cronus had marked me and ever since then I got nightmares. Nobody said anything for a while, until Rhiannon asked, "The voice. It's Cronus' voice, isn't it?"

My eyes met the floor. I knew she was right. He was asking me to 'give in' after all. If I ever did…I shuddered at the thought. But when I was asleep, and he was there, it just…it was nearly impossible not to. At night, he had more control than I did, and I was fading.

"It's okay," Avi said, looking at all of us. "Right? We stopped you this time, we'll stop you next time."

"Right," I said quickly. "Thanks. What time is it?"

Rayne scowled at me and looked like he was going to say something, but Tayla answered, "Time to go," before he could ask me anything else. I nodded, and then walked over to the bed, making sure we had everything packed. 

No one said anything else until Rhiannon said, "The Oracle. We need the Oracle."

"Who?" I asked, still staring at the backpack of our belongings. 

"The Oracle of Delphi. She was gifted by Apollo - god of prophecies, among other things - and as far as I know, she's still alive. She'll know what to do about Cronus."

I shivered when she said his name, but I nodded, turning around to look at her. "Okay. So where do we go, exactly?" Anyway to deal with the creepy voice in my head was good by me.

"We summon her," she replied. "Isabelle would know how to do this better…but I know it's possible, especially in the modern day. Just light a candle and call upon her."

"That sounds like some Ouija board shit," I remarked dryly. "If she's the Oracle of Delphi, don't we have to…you know… _go_ to Delphi?"

"We could," Rhiannon replied, just as dry, "And spend miles of time and money finding a boat across the Mediterranean. Or, we could do the cheap route. Look, I know this works - and I think she'll show up when two Broken-Souls call her. Nobody can resist that."

"Okay," Tayla said. "Let's do it. I'll go buy a candle."

**********

We'd checked out of the tiny hotel hours ago, and Tayla had found a candle in the gift shop. The desert was huge, and standing on the edge of the town we'd been staying in really made me realize that. There was no way we could cross it ourselves - that is, without using all of our magic and energy.

Soon enough, the candle was lit, and Rhiannon bent down beside it. She started muttering in Greek, calling on the Oracle to come and advise us. Tayla and Avi looked terribly confused as to what she was saying. It was easy to forget that not everyone was a Broken-Soul. Quietly, I told them what she was saying as Rhiannon sat there in the dirt with her eyes closed and hands clasped together.

"Is this really going to work?" Avi asked me. Rayne and Tayla had also joined us, seemingly eager to get away from Rhiannon. "I've never heard of the Oracle before."

"It'll work," Rayne cut in, making some intense eye contact with the brown haired boy. "It's got to."

We stood like that for a while longer, awkwardly watching Rhiannon chant into a candle. Quite a few muttered conversations later, finally, Rhiannon stopped and beckoned us all to sit down. The candle hadn't changed, and nothing seemed to have happened, but we sat in the dirt next to her, the desert on our left and the town on our right. "I almost got it," she said. "I just need you all to channel some magic into it."

"Uh, what kind of magic are we talking about here?" I asked. "Like a specific spell, or…?" Magic could be used two ways; either just channeling it out in the form of physical energy, or using specific spells. Normally, different people excelled at different ways to use it. I preferred to use the former way, myself.  

"Just channel it into the candle," Rhiannon said. "I need all of us to do it."

So we did. Feeling slightly like an idiot, I focused on the candle and forced out some energy into it. Almost instantly, the candle flame leapt upwards, skyrocketing into the air like a flare. Energy practically radiated from it. Nothing happened for a moment, but then a red light emitted from it and suddenly, appearing out of thin air, there was a woman.

Her dark eyes looked over us and seemed generally disappointed. She had dark skin and brown hair tied into dreadlocks. After making a full circle and looking over all of us once, she settled on Rhiannon. "You summoned me?"

Rhiannon cleared her throat. "Are you the Oracle of Delphi?"

"That would be me," she replied dryly. "But not really. The whole 'Delphi' thing is so outdated. I'm the Oracle. The _only_ Oracle. At least, this generation's Oracle. Anyways. What do you want?"

"We need help," Rhiannon said. I could tell she was nervous and didn't want to screw up. I prayed for all our sakes - and, well, especially mine - that she would be able to pull through. 

"Doesn't everyone," the Oracle sighed. "Alright, what do you need? A love spell? Those turn out pretty superficial, I have to remind you, but who do you want to fall in love with you?"

"Not a love spell," Rhiannon countered. "We, uh. We have a bigger problem than that."

The Oracle sighed once more, putting a hand on her hip. "Look, are you going to tell me or not? I have a date to get back to. Not that that's really going to go well anymore - I disappeared, right in front of her. You're the first people to summon me in _years_ , so - out with it!"

"Cronus is rising," Rayne said before Rhiannon could say any more. "He marked Maya. We need to know what the mark means, get her to stop having nightmares, and make sure he doesn't rise ever again." When he put it like that, I probably should've said something.

Turning to face Rayne, the Oracle actually smiled. "I like you," she said. "Right to the point. It's refreshing. Anyways - Cronus is rising, you say? We can't have that. Alright. Show me this mark."

Rayne gestured to me, and I turned my neck to reveal the scythe burned into my skin. The Oracle clicked her tongue as she looked it over, and then said, "Well, it appears that Cronus will need a host if he rises, like all monsters do. But he'd need a strong host, stronger than a human. And who is stronger than a Broken-Soul with _four_ gods inside of her?"

_Oh._

"Wait, what?" Avi said. "Cronus wants Maya to be his _host_?"

"Looks that way." The Oracle kept staring at me, but then finally looked back at Rayne. "As for stopping Cronus, for that, you need the gods. All of the gods."

"The gods are dead." Finally, I'd worked up the courage to speak. "They faded, and put their powers in us. They're gone."

"Immortal beings don't die," the Oracle chastised. "Their essences are somewhere, probably locked up tight, so the regular human will never find them. My best guess? Atlantis."

"Of course Atlantis is real," I muttered, but no one heard me.

"Okay," Tayla said. "We go to Atlantis. Where is that, exactly?"

The Oracle was still only looking at Rayne, and for that reason, Rayne was the one who saw the life go out of her eyes. She fell forwards, into his arms, before we could even see the arrow sticking out of her chest. It must have hit her heart, killing her instantly. 

Another arrow came flying out of seemingly nowhere, landing inches to my left. "They're here!" Rhiannon yells, pulling her long sword out of its sheath on her back. _"Run!"_

There was nowhere to run. I tried to make a break for it, but arrows cut off my path, no matter where I tried to move. Immediately, I tried to use my magic, to maybe make a shield if nothing else, but it didn't seem to be working - something else far more powerful than me was blocking it. But who?

Slowly, our attackers came from every direction, circling us, forcing us into a smaller circle, our backs touching. I had my own dagger drawn but it wasn't going to do any good. All of the Souls we'd left behind at the Egyptian camp were surrounding us. For the first time in centuries, the Greeks and Egyptians were working together for one goal - to kill us.

The one leading them? None other than Isabelle, the Soul of Apollo, my friend - the killer of Apollo's Oracle. Irony at its finest.

Rayne's eyes were glazed over beside me, and he just kept staring at the Oracle's body. "Rayne!" I hissed, trying to snap him out of it, but he either wouldn't or couldn't look at me. 

"You all really have to learn how to run." Isabelle's voice rang through the area, almost making me shiver. It seemed louder, stronger, and colder than possible. Even Rayne seemed to shake out of his trance, but he looked extremely disorientated. 

I looked over at the small town next to us, but either they were ignoring what was happening or we were shielded from us. "Maybe you should give us more of a chance," Avi said. He was the one standing directly in Isabelle's line of fire.

"Isabelle!" I called. "Why are you doing this? You saved my life, remember? Back in the alley? Are you going to be the one to end it, too?"

She paused for one moment, as if listening to something, and then said, "No. You're needed for something else."

What? "Why are you doing this?"

"Because," she said, "Cronus asked me to."

With those words, chaos broke out. Rayne stiffened beside me and I felt a pulse of energy emerge directly from him, causing my head to spin. He locked eyes with me for one second, before his hand grabbed Avi's and then…the both of them were gone, footprints in the sand the only sign they'd been there. 

"What the hell?" Tayla yelled, stepping closer to me to re-close the circle. I didn't have time to answer her - Rhiannon cried out and toppled backwards into my arms, a tranquilizer dart sticking out of her neck. Her sword fell into the dirt, useless. We couldn't take them out, anyways - you can't kill a Soul, or else the world would die.

"Sorry," I said to Tayla. It was my fault we were here, after all. She didn't say anything. Darts flew into both of our necks and almost instantly, I toppled to the ground, sandy dirt pushing into my cheek.

I could've sworn, before I passed out, that I heard Cronus' voice in my head say, _"Got you now, don't I?"_


End file.
